The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents the 1951 film An American in Paris with live performances of the score, November 25–26 in Newark and New Brunswick. Gene Kelly stars as a former American GI who falls for Parisian Leslie Caron; the film features classic songs by George and Ira Gershwin.

Kelly’s wife and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly will host the performances and participate in post-concert talkbacks with conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos.

“The Gershwin songs are magnificent, and the climactic ballet a tour de force,” The Guardian writes of the film, which includes Gershwin hits like “Embraceable You,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “I Got Rhythm,” “’S Wonderful” and “Our Love is Here to Stay.”

Performances take place on Saturday, November 25, at 8 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and Sunday, November 26, at 3 pm at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. State Theatre New Jersey co-presents the November 26 performance.

In NJSO Accent events following each performance, Kitsopoulos will chat about the magic and mystery of playing live with film, and Patricia Ward Kelly will share anecdotes from her life with Gene Kelly.

Single tickets start at $20 and are available from the NJSO online at www.njsymphony.org, by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or in person. The NJSO Patron Services office is located at 60 Park Place, 9th floor, in Newark; hours are Monday–Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, and concert Saturdays, 11 am to 5 pm.

Tickets for the November 26 performance are also available from the State Theatre New Jersey online at www.STNJ.org, by phone at 732.246.SHOW (7469) or in person. The State Theatre New Jersey Guest Services office is located at 15 Livingston Ave in New Brunswick. Hours are Monday—Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, and at least three hours prior to curtain on performance dates unless otherwise specified.

CONCERT PROGRAM

An American in Paris in Concert with the NJSO

Saturday, November 25, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark

Sunday, November 26, at 3 pm | State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick

Constantine Kitsopoulos, conductor

Patricia Ward Kelly, host

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

The November 26 performance is presented in collaboration with State Theatre New Jersey.

Talkback—Sat, Nov 25, and Sun, Nov 26, after the concertsHere’s a chance to go deep on one of your favorite movies. Conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos explains the magic and unravels the mystery of playing live with film, while Gene Kelly’s wife and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly shares anecdotes from her life with the film star.

ARTIST BIOS

Constantine Kitsopoulos, conductor

Constantine Kitsopouloshas made a name for himself as a conductor whose musical experiences comfortably span the worlds of opera, symphony, musical theater and film with live orchestra. He regularly conducts in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Royal Albert Hall, and has served as music director/conductor for musical theater productions on Broadway.

The 2017–18 season marks Kitsopoulos’ eighth as music director of the Festival of the Arts BOCA where he has worked with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang and the Russian National Orchestra, among others. He was artistic director of the OK Mozart Festival from 2013–15 and spent eight years as music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra. He founded Chatham Opera in 2005 and has recently become general director of the New York Grand Opera.

Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with the New York Philharmonic; the Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Toledo, San Antonio and San Francisco symphony orchestras; Calgary Philharmonic; National Arts Centre Orchestra and New York Pops Orchestra.

Also much in demand as a theater conductor, both on Broadway and nationwide, Kitsopoulos has been music director and conductor of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway and of the Gershwins’ Porgy andBess, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical revival featuring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis that ran until September 2012. He is co-composer of a new musical theater piece called Temple, based on the life of Temple Grandin, and is in the process of composing a new opera, with a libretto by Evangelia Kingsley, entitled Holy Week.

Patricia Ward Kelly, host

Patricia Ward Kelly is the wife and biographer of legendary dancer, director and choreographer Gene Kelly. She and her husband met at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, in 1985, when he was the host and narrator for a television special and she was a writer. Soon after, he invited her to California to write his memoir, a job for which she recorded his words nearly every day for more than 10 years. They married in 1990 and were together until his death in 1996. Currently, Kelly serves as Trustee of The Gene Kelly Image Trust and Creative Director of The Gene Kelly Legacy, Inc., a corporation established to celebrate Gene Kelly’s artistry worldwide. She lives in Los Angeles, where she curates the Gene Kelly Archives and is completing the book about her late husband.

Kelly’s one-woman show,GENE KELLY: THE LEGACY An Evening with Patricia Ward Kelly, is currently on tour in the US and abroad. Her live symphonic/cinema tribute, Warner Bros. Presents GENE KELLY: A LIFE IN MUSIC,is launching in the spring of 2018. For more information about upcoming GENE KELLY LEGACY events, please go to the official Gene Kelly website, www.genekelly.com, to subscribe, and like “Gene Kelly The Legacy” on Facebook.

NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Named “a vital, artistically significant musical organization” by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra’s superb musicians.

Music Director Xian Zhang—a “dynamic podium presence” The New York Times has praised for her “technical abilities, musicianship and maturity”—continues her acclaimed leadership of the NJSO. The Orchestra presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra’s statewide identity.

In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include school-time Concerts for Young People, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.

STATE THEATRE NEW JERSEY

State Theatre New Jersey—creating extraordinary experiences through the power of live performance. The theater exists to enrich people’s lives, contribute to a vital urban environment and build future audiences by presenting the finest performing artists and entertainers and fostering lifetime appreciation for the performing arts through education. The State Theatre New Jersey’s programs are made possible in part by funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and contributions from numerous corporations, foundations and individuals.